


Knockturn Alley

by TheSistersBread



Series: No sane person would ever come here. [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Aromantic Luna Lovegood, BAMF Dean Thomas, BAMF Justin Finch-Fletchley, BAMF Luna Lovegood, Bisexual Dean Thomas, Dark, Dark Comedy, Everyone Has Issues, Everyone is strong in their own ways, Family Feels, Fluffy, Freeform, Heterosexual Justin Finch-Fletchley, I Don't Even Know, Implied/Referenced Underage Prostitution, Knockturn Alley, No Romance, Orphans, Platonic Relationships, Prostitution, Snippets, Street Rats, Strong Characters, Strong Female Characters, Strong male characters, The Author Regrets Nothing, What Have I Done, What are they going to do?, at least not Romance centric, but fluffy, growing up on the streets, illiterate
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-15 09:01:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28935948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSistersBread/pseuds/TheSistersBread
Summary: Knockturn Alley:No sane person would ever come there.This is where they grow up.They being Dean, Luna and Justin.
Series: No sane person would ever come here. [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2120739
Kudos: 23





	1. Chapter 1

Justin Finch-Fletcher got lost in London and never found his way back.

Luna Lovegood wandered too far past the boundary wards.

Dean Thomas was kicked out after one too many bouts of accidental magic.

They are children of Knockturn Alley.

No sane person would ever come there.


	2. Background

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The three meet and prepare for school.

Knockturn Alley is filthy.

If it wasn’t for the overwhelming stench of Dark Magic wafting from it, then maybe it would be better.

Maybe not.

Does it really matter?

It is where all the ‘Dark’ creatures run rampant.

They might be bad but the humans are the worst.

Hypocrites the lot of them.

* * *

Knockturn Alley isn’t really an alley at all.

It’s a fitting name for the connotations of an alley but it isn’t actually an alley.

If you know it more than passingly, you’ll realise it’s actually a little neighbourhood.

It might not be a friendly neighbourhood but it is one.

There are a few simple rules for the inhabitants.

One of them is not to get in the way of the others.

If you offer someone your cheek, why wouldn’t they slap it?

Knockturn Alley is simply to understand. 

The outside world isn’t.

* * *

Black lives in Knockturn Alley.

Has lived there for as long as he can remember.

He named himself Black because of his eyes.

And because everyone always thinks Black is a fake name or that he’s making it up.

It means he’s harder to find.

Harder to find is safer - at least as safe as you can get here.

* * *

Grey doesn’t like it here.

She gas heard about this place, heard that it is bad.

As the days pass and she manages to scrape by, she agrees.

She treasures those words, keeps them close to her heart because that is the only thing she can remember before this.

It is all she knows about the outside.

She calls herself grey because she wants to be white.

She can’t be white here.

She settles for grey.

Hopefully, she doesn’t have to go any darker.

She doesn’t know if that’s possible.

She wouldn’t even have chosen a name if she thought she could get away with it but the people or creatures or whatever they want to be called want a name to remember.

She gives them Grey.

Not easily traceable - all it tells them is that her eyes are Grey which they already know.

* * *

Brown remembers the most out of the three of them if the outside.

The other two don’t know that yet but it doesn’t mean it is not true.

He doesn’t know his name is Brown yet but it doesn’t mean it’s not his name.

But truth is difficult to define, to pin down.

Brown’s not sure what people mean when they ask for the truth.

Isn’t there more than one type?

* * *

Black meets Brown.

All they know is that they are in this heist together.

The could turn on each other but they don't.

They really should.

Should fight for all the rewards.

They don't.

They wait for the other to make the first move.

Neither of them do.

So they form a tentative alliance.

Not a friendship.

They can't.

Can't make themselves vulnerable.

They are anyway.

* * *

Now there's two of them.

They are Brown and Black.

Black and Brown.

When you ask one to do a job, the other is always there, always watching, always ready.

They are shadows of each other.

It is fitting that they are Brown and Black.

They don't care.

* * *

Grey has been running for a long time.

She hates running.

As much as she can hate anyway.

She lives in a near state of apathy most days.

It is the only way to protect her bleeding heart.

She is too kind, too helpful.

There is no place for that here.

She is a predator and she has to act like it.

But she is a young predator - not refined yet.

Still, she has good knowledge of the land.

So when two boys - she cannot think of them that way.

When two intruders show up, she is quick to assert that this is her land.

They don't get scared away.

Instead, they look at her bared teeth and manage to pin her down.

* * *

In Knockturn Alley, there is a stretch where no young child should ever go.

The inhabitants morals are even more screwed than the rest.

Brown, Black and Grey have all been.

They pin Grey down and all she can do is cry.

She does not like pain.

Brown and Black let go.

They remember too.

They will not be the monsters.

It is an odd way to make (friends) allies.

* * *

Grey, Black and Brown live on a collapsed rooftop.

They are not the only ones to do so.

There have been others.

Before.

Not anymore.

They live on the rooftops now.

* * *

They don't like the Aurors.

They are meant to protect them.

Aurors are meant to be heroes.

They don't.

What are heroes?

Do they really exist?

They don't know if they want answers.

* * *

They are nearly teenagers - grown - when an owl comes for Black and Brown.

They flee.

Grey will not be left behind.

They are sure she can manage but they will not be parted.

No one gives it a second thought.

It is regretful but if they lived on Knockturn Alley, they are probably dead by now.

At least that's what they must think.

The three don't care.

* * *

They know they have magic, know it exists.

It's hard not to.

They can feel its curl under their skin.

It is like a Siren.

The question is, how kind is the Siren?

Will it drown them, or will it comfort them?

They have to find out.

* * *

Grey doesn't know what they are going to do.

They need supplies for the posh boarding school they're getting carted off to.

How will they manage?

They scrape by in the end.

The school has a trust for orphans but it is not quite enough.

They have to cover the difference somehow.

They manage but it means taking more shifts at work and not buying anything at all.

It is extremely taxing but they manage.

They have to.

Grey can't walk sometimes and Brown and Black hobble just as much but they are determined.

The Alley has taken everything from them, it can't have this too.

They will go to magic school.

Even if they have third-hand supplies and self-crafted wands.

Even if they can't walk today.

Even if they have to go without food for a little bit.

Even if they get lost searching for the station.

They are going.


	3. Train

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our trio search for the platform and meet someone.

Grey, Brown and Black manage to get to the station.

It is only around three miles away but they are tired and weak and hungry and lost.

Their map is faded and discoloured but they are determined.

Determination accomplishes a great many things.

Determination kept them from dying, from giving up.

In the face of that, determination can surely get them to the train station.

It does.

They are even on time.

The platform on their ticket reads Nine and Three Quarters but they are not sure where it is.

Grey is panicking but they all have enough presence of mind to head for platform Nine.

Perhaps there is a concealed entrance somewhere?

They take up different positions around the platform.

It takes time but they watch vigilantly.

Black and Brown are excellent at it but they watch too rigidly.

Grey moves too much.

No one notices.

It is only after half an hour that they start to realise that people with trunks are gravitating towards the wall.

Black shrugs and gets up, poking the barrier with the newspaper he has acquired.

It goes through.

Maybe they would be wide-eyed.

In another life, maybe.

They are not.

They have lived in both the Magical and Muggle worlds, have seen the true wonders people can come up with.

This is nothing in comparison.

Nothing.

Brown pushes more of the newspaper in before pulling it out.

The newspaper has not changed whatsoever.

Next, Grey tests an apple.

Apples are more 'alive' than newspapers.

Nothing happens.

It should be safe.

Black goes through first, before Grey or Brown can stop him.

He pulls them through too.

They tug their trunk along, wincing when it rolls over their feet.

They couldn't afford individual ones.

They couldn't steal individual ones either.

So they managed to get a big one and stuffed all their things in.

Grey worried about what they would do if they were separated.

Brown and Black said they would worry about it later.

They had a train to catch, after all.

They make it.

* * *

They decide early on to avoid the aristocracy.

They mostly wear silver and green but there are more than a few who wear other colours too.

Perhaps there are different levels?

There are more green and silver so they are the nobility.

Then, there is the black and yellow - they must be the barons and earls and so on.

Then, it is the gold and red - they must be in between the barons and the royalty.

Then, the bronze and blue - they must be royalty.

They suppose the silver and green house is best - people will pay them less attention.

They don't have much time to discuss more because their compartment door is slid open.

They try not to jump but it isn’t very successful. Loud noises startle them and they hate the sound of the sliding of the door.

It makes them wince.

Or flinch.

Or both.

A redhead about their age peers in.

”I don’t suppose I could sit with you? I’m Ginny, Ginny Weasley.”

Perhaps in another life, her abrupt and mannerless entrance would bother them. 

The question is rhetoric and she hasn’t asked their names.

It doesn’t.

They are used to blunt and rude people.

You don’t have to be nice if you are going to kill somebody.

They have met other people though. 

People who hide.

Hide under layers of manners and not pleasantries.

If this girl is aristocracy, she must be part of a relaxed family.

Probably.

They don’t know for sure but they have to be careful.

Like usual.

They wonder if one day they won’t have to be so careful.

Not today.

They are not lucky.

But they are alive.

They are still breathing, still together.

Because they have been careful.

They do not particularly feel anything towards the redhead and she them so they do not feel guilty about being wary around her.

They do not know Ginny Weasley.

They cannot afford to be careless around her.

They cannot.

* * *

Ginny is a rather loud person.

She likes to chat and doesn't seem to particularly care if they respond or not as long as they look like they are paying attention.

They know how to look like they are not paying attention.

The other way is a little more tricky but a few shifts her way every now and then and some nods do the job.

Perhaps they should thanks her for teaching them a new skill.

She doesn't seem like she would appreciate it.

So they don't.

Grey leans onto Brown further.

She claims he is more comfortable than Black.

It is a lie.

They are all as equally bony.

She leans on Black just as often.

It is a subtle comfort and a show of trust.

She trusts Brown and Black to look after her as she sleeps.

They trust her enough to let her touch them for that long.

But it became more than that.

The three don't do 'hugs' and 'kisses'.

This is a lot more comfortable.

It is less noticeable.

Subtle.

The way they are.

The way they have to be.

Ginny rattles on in front of them.

She is talking about the proclaimed saviour of the Wizarding World and there is an emotion on her face that they cannot identify.

It makes them uncomfortable.

It looks like admiration.

But it seems to be admiration for a dream.

Not for the reality.

When she talks about the boy, she acts as if she knows him.

She doesn't.

Grey, Brown and Black never wanted to be famous.

Now, they know they would absolutely loathe it.

They wonder if this 'Harry Potter' is an honorary member of the aristocracy.

Will he be stuck-up?

Arrogant?

Or will he be the humble, modest type?

Will he be slightly spoiled?

It matters.

They need to know who and how he is.

How else are they meant to avoid him?

They've suffered enough already, they don't want to get involved with him.

However he is, it is clear that he will have to be the Wizarding World's saviour.

Always in the spotlight.

It is best to stay away.


End file.
